SLljp  Matifn  mh  %  CHljttii 


BY 


Mwcm  MottUBsmi,  MM. 


A  Lecture  by  Doctor  Montessori  delivered 
before  the  National  Education  Association 
in  August,  I9f5>  and  .reprinted  from  \the. 
Journal  of  the  Assotidlidn/  hti],  .  .      - 


Reprinted  by 

THE  HOUSE  OF  CHILDHOOD,  INC. 

225  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

ikers  and  Sole  Licencees  of  the  Montessori  Childhood  Educational  Apparatus 


BY 

Maria  ManUBBOxl  M.B. 


^ 


A  Lecture  by  Doctor  Montessoti  delivered 
before  the  National  Education  Association 
in  August,  1915,  and  reprinted  from  the 
Journal  of  the  Association,   1915. 


THE  MOTHER  AND  tHE  CHILD 
Maria  Montessori,  M.D.,  Rome,  Italy 

The  mothers  of  today  take  far  more  intelli- 
gent care  of  their  children  than  did  the 
mothers  of  the  past,  and  this  is  not  because 
they  love  their  children  more  but  because  the 
science  of  medicine,  by  establishing  rules  for 
child  hygiene,  has  materially  aided  the  mis- 
sion of  motherhood.  Thus  the  treatment  ac- 
corded the  child  has  brought  great  change  to 
the  mission  of  motherhood.  Above  all,  it  has 
vitally  transformed  some  of  the  principles, 
that  is  to  say,  some  of  the  ideas  as  to  the  real 
influence  that  we  may  have  on  a  child  as  he 

.develops.     Let  us  rapidly  survey  these  trans- 

}  formations. 

What  used  to  take  place?  Perhaps  there 
are  some  w^ho  still  remember  having  seen  cer- 
tain practices,  considered  a  universal  dogma  at 
one  time.  The  child  v^as  v^rapped  in  sv^^addl- 
ing  clothes  to  avoid  having  crooked  legs;  his 
N  tongue  had  to  be  clipped  so  that  he  might 
\  some  day  talk;  he  alw^ays  w^ore  a  cap  to  keep 
his  ears  from  standing  out;  care  was  always 
taken  to  lay  the  baby  down  in  such  positions 
as  not  to  run  the  risk  of  doing  permanent  in- 
jury to  his  delicate  head;  the  good  mothers 


^C 


also  rubbed  the  little  newborn  baby's  nose  so 

^  that  it  would  grow  long  and  slender  and  not 

remain  too  short  and  stumpy;  they  even  put 

N^  gold   ear-rings   on   him   at  birth  because   this 

supposedly  made  his  sight  keener. 

In  some  countries  these  practices  are  doubt- 
less forgotten,  but  in  some  they  are  still  in 
use.  Who  does  not  remember  the  means  used 
to  help  the  child  in  learning  to  walk?  In  the 
first  months — at  a  time  of  life  when  the  nerve 
paths  are  not  yet  developed  and  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  the  child  to  co-ordinate  his  movements 
— mothers  would  waste  several  half  hours  a 
day  trying  to  teach  the  child  to  walk.  They 
held  the  babe  by  his  body  and  used  the  dis- 
ordered movements  of  the  little  feet  to  delude 
themselves  into  thinking  that  these  were  the 
beginnings  of  walking,  and  because  the  child 
began,  little  by  little,  to  put  one  foot  in  front 
of  the  other  and  to  gain  confidence  in  the  use 
of  his  feet,  the  mothers  attributed  all  this  pro- 
gress to  their  previous  efforts. 

When  the  control  of  movement  was  some- 
what established — but  not  equilibrium,  or  the 
power  of  standing  upon  his  feet — the  mothers 
used  straps  to  support  the  baby  body  and  thus 
had  him  walk  with  them,  or  when  they  could 
not  spare  the  time,  they  would  put  the  child 
into  an  ambulator — which  having  a  broad  base 

334869 


could  not  tip  over — and  there  he  stayed,  his 
arms  hanging  over  the  side,  his  little  body 
supported  by  the  rim,  and  tho  he  did  not 
know  how  to  stand  still,  he  went  forward  by 
moving  his  feet — that  is,  he  walked. 

\  What  did  science  reveal  when  it  entered  the 
>  field  of  child  welfare?  Certainly  it  offered 
no  sure  means  of  strengthening  the  nose  and 
ears,  and  it  did  not  enlighten  the  mothers  as 
to  the  ways  of  teaching  a  child,  even  from 
birth,  how  to  walk.  No,  first  of  all,  it  uttered 
the  firm  conviction  that  nature  herself  sees 
to  determining  the  shape  of  the  head,  nose, 
and  ears;  that  man  will  talk  well  without  the 
need  of  clipping  his  tongue ;  that  the  legs 
grow  straight  naturally;  not  only  this,  but 
^  the  fact  that  the  function  of  deambulation  is 
established  of  itself  in  nature  and  has  no  need 
\  of  assistance.  Hence  we  must  let  nature  act 
!  of  its  own  accord  as  freely  as  possible  and 
the  more  a  child  is  left  free  to  develop,  the 
sooner  and  the  more  perfectly  will  he  attain 
his  higher  forms  and  functions.  Abolish  then 
the  swathing-bands  and  recommend  great 
peace  and  comfort  when  he  rests.  The  child, 
with  his  limbs  free,  should  be  left  lying 
quietly,  not  tossed  up  and  down  or  rocked  as 
many  used  to  do,  thinking  they  were  amusing 


him ;  neither  should  he  be  forced  to  walk  be- 
fore his  time.  When  the  hour  comes  he  will 
arise  and  walk. 

Today  almost  everyone  is  convinced  of 
these  facts,  and  swaddling  clothes,  girths,  and 
ambulators  have  almost  disappeared  from 
sale.  Children,  therefore,  have  straighter  legs 
and  walk  better  and  at  an  earlier  age  than 
formerly. 

This  fact  is  well  established,  and  it  is  a 
great  relief,  for  in  truth  what  a  burden  it  was 
to  think  that  the  straightness  of  the  legs,  the 
form  of  the  nose,  of  the  ears,  of  the  head,  were 
all  the  direct  results  of  our  care!  What  a 
responsibility,  for  which  all  felt  unfit!  What 
a  joy  to  say,  "It  is  nature's  task.  I  will  leave 
the  child  free,  I  will  watch  him  grow  in 
beauty,  I  will  assist  quietly  at  the  miracle." 

These  new  concepts  have  up  to  now  been 
confined  to  the  body.  As  regards  the  inner 
life  of  the  child  there  has  not  been  a  like  pro- 
gress, for  in  this  we  are  still  in  a  stage  similar 
to  that  other  which,  by  the  help  of  science, 
we  have  left  behind. 

Something  of  the  kind  is  coming  for  the 
child's  inner  life.  Indeed,  we  are  assailed  with 
questions.  The  character  must  be  molded,  the 
intellect  developed,  the  feelings  guided,  and 
we  ask  ourselves.  What  shall  we  do?     Here 


and  there  we  touch  the  child's  soul,  or  we 
confine  it  more  or  less  as  the  mothers  did  by 
rubbing  the  child's  nose  or  bandaging  his  ears. 
We  hide  our  anxiety  behind  a  sort  of  medium 
success,  since  men  do  grow  up  with  character, 
intellect,  and  feelings.  When,  however,  all 
these  qualities  are  lacking,  we  are  overcome. 
What  shall  we  do?  Who  can  endow  a  degen- 
erate with  character,  an  idiot  with  intellect,  a 
moral  degenerate  with  feelings?  If,  indeed,  it 
were  by  merely  touching  the  soul  here  and 
there  that  man  gained  all  these  qualities,  then 
it  would  suffice  to  touch  a  little  more  energeti- 
cally him  who  was  lacking.  But  such  is  not 
\  the  case.  Hence  we  are  no  more  creators  of 
the  inner  form  than  of  the  outer. 

It  is  nature,  it  is  creation,  which  directs  all 
these  things.  When  once  we  are  convinced 
of  this,  there  is  born  within  us  the  principle  of 
the  necessity  of  not  putting  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  natural  development,  and  instead  of 
so  many  different  problems,  such  as  what  to 
do  to  develop  character,  intellect,  and  feelings, 
one  problem  only  would  present  itself  as  the 
V  basis  of  all  education — how  to  give  the  child 
freedom. 

In  this  freedom  there  must  be  included 
principles  analogous  to  those  which  science 
dictated  for  the  forms  and  functions  of  the 


body  during  the  period  of  growth,  a  freedom 
in  which  the  head,  nose,  and  ears  became 
more  beautiful  and  deambulation  the  most 
perfect  possible,  according  to  the  congenital 
forces  of  the  individual.  So  here  freedom  as 
the  only  means  should  carry  the  character,  the 
intellect,  and  the  feelings  to  the  highest  point 
of  development  possible  to  the  individual,  and 
it  should  give  to  us,  who  are  directing  this 
work,  peace  and  the  opportunity  of  contem- 
plating the  miracle  of  growth. 

This  freedom  liberates  us,  too,  from  the 
anxious  burden  of  an  imaginary  responsibility 
and  a  dangerous  illusion.  Woe  to  us  if  we 
believe  ourselves  responsible  for  things  which 
do  not  concern  us  and  delude  ourselves  into 
thinking  that  we  bring  things  to  pass  which, 
on  the  contrary,  take  place  without  any  refer- 
ence to  us.  What,  then,  has  become  of  our 
real  mission,  of  our  real  responsibility?  What 
w^rongs,  what  real  sins  are  we  committing? 

The  history  of  the  child's  physical  redemp- 
tion has  for  us  a  most  interesting  sequence. 
It  does  seem  strange  to  us  today  to  consider 
that  at  a  time  when  infant  diseases  were  a 
scourge,  it  was  not  the  death-rate  which  held 
the  attention,  but  the  form  of  the  nose  or  the 
legs,  whereas  the  vital  question  passed  un- 
noticed.     The    mortality    statistics    revealed 


such  high  figures  that  the  phenomenon  was 
named  the  ''slaughter  of  the  innocents."  The 
X  famous  statistics  of  Lexis,  which  do  not  refer 
to  any  one  country  but  to  the  average  death- 
rate  of  humanity  in  general,  shows  that  this 
terrifying  truth  was  universal.  It  has  two 
factors :  One  undoubtedly  is  the  character- 
istic weakness  of  the  child;  the  other,  the 
want  of  protection  for  his  weakness,  a  lack 
which  was  general  among  all  peoples. 

Certainly  there  was  no  want  of  good-will  or 
feeling  of  love  toward  the  children,  but  a 
something  unknown  was  wanting:  the  means 
of  combating  a  dreadful  peril  which  took 
place  all  unnoticed.  We  know  today  that 
infectious  diseases,  especially  those  of  intes- 
tinakorigin,  were  the  cause  of  such  great  mor- 
V  tality.  Intestinal  diseases  diminish  nutrition 
^  or  produce  poisons  at  an  age  in  which  the 
delicate  tissues  are  most  sensitive  and  they 
were  responsible  for  almost  the  entire 
slaughter. 

Then  the  wrongs  which  were  being  habit- 
ually committed  against  infants  stood  forth, 
wrongs  comprised  in  a  lack  of  cleanliness 
which  today  would  astound  us  and  in  an  ab- 
solute want  of  any  rules  as  to  the  feeding  of 
babies.  The  soiled  linens  which  enveloped  the 
child  were  often  merely  hung  out  to  dry  sev- 


eral  times  and  used  over  again  and  again  be- 
fore being  washed.  No  care  was  taken  to 
wash  either  the  nipple  or  the  baby's  mouth, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  of  fermentation  so  serious 
to  cause  local  sickness.  The  infant  nursed 
without  any  regularity ;  night  and  day  the 
baby's  cries  governed  the  time  of  nursing 
and  the  more  indigestion  and  suffering  in- 
creased the  more  his  feedings  were  increased, 
thus  aggravating  his  condition. 

Science  gave  the  simplest  rules;  it  advised 
the  most  perfect  cleanliness  possible  and  it 
pointed  out  a  principle  so  evident  in  itself 
that  it  was  amazing  that  everyone  had  not 
understood  it  from  the  beginning,  namely :  A 
baby,  like  an  adult,  must  fast  at  times  and  can 
N^take  new  food  only  after  the  preceding'^has 
been  digested,  and  so  the  nursing  periods 
should  come  at  regular  intervals,  varying  ac- 
cording to  age,  following  the  modifications  of 
the  physiological  functions  in  their  develop- 
ment. Nor  should  crusts  of  bread  be  given 
the  child — as  so  many  mothers  do,  especially 
the  very  poor — to  calm  his  crying,  for  he 
^  might  swallow  the  hard  particles  before  he 
is  able  to  digest  them. 

It  was  science  which,  redeeming  the  chil- 
dren, brought  about  trained  nurse  girls, 
cradles  for  all,  rooms  and  proper  clothing,  and 


especially  prepared  foods  made  by  great  con- 
cerns for  the  hygienic  feeding  of  children  after 
weaning.  Indeed,  it  created  an  entirely  new 
world  for  them — intelligent,  clean,  and  pleas- 
ing. The  child  became  the  new  man,  who  has 
wrested  his  rights  from  life  and  who  has, 
therefore,  had  to  create  an  environment  for 
himself.  Thus  we  see  that  infant  mortality 
diminishes  in  direct  proportion  to  the  diffusion 
of  the  rules  of  child  hygiene. 

If,  therefore,  w^e  say  that  spiritually  also  the 
child  should  be  left  free  because  nature — and 
not  we — is  the  creator  who  molds  him,  we  do 
not  mean  by  that  to  abandon  him  and  leave 
him  to  his  own  devices. 

Perhaps,  however,  if  we  study  the  situation, 
we  will  realize  that,  tho  we  may  not  be  able 
to  act  directly  on  the  child's  individual  forms 
of  character,  intellect,  and  feeling,  which  we 
have  overlooked  and  on  which  depend  the  life 
and  death  of  the  spirit;  yet  there  are  a  certain 
series  of  obligations  and  a  round  of  cares 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  perform. 

The  criterion  of  liberty  is  not  then  one  of 
abandoning  the  child,  but  by  leading  us  from 
illusion  to  truth,  it  points  the  way  to  the  posi- 
tive and  most  efficacious  manner  of  caring  for 
children. 


Freedom   of   the    Child   of   Today   Merely*  a 

Physical    Freedom  —  Civil    Rights    of 

Children  in  the  Twentieth  Century 

Hygiene  has  freed  the  child's  physical  life. 
The  external  proofs,  which  consist  in  the  do- 
ing away  with  the  swaddling  clothes,  in  the 
open-air  life,  in  giving  sufficient  rest,  and  the 
like,  are,  in  general,  the  most  visible  and 
tangible  part,  but  they  constitute  only  a  means 
of  attaining  freedom.  A  far  more  important 
step  toward  freedom  has  been  that  of  remov- 
ing from  the  path  of  life  the  dangers  of  dis- 
ease and  death. 

As  soon  as  the  obstacle  caused  by  some  of 
these  fundamental  errors  was  removed,  not 
only  did  the  children  survive  in  greater  num- 
bers, but  it  was  proved  that  they  grew  better 
and  healthier.  Was  it  really  hygiene  which 
helped  them  to  increase  in  weight,  in  stature, 
in  beauty,  and  also  in  general  growth?  Hy- 
giene did  not  do  all  of  this.  The  gospels  say: 
"Who  is  able  to  add  one  cubit  to  man's  stat- 
ure?'' Hygiene  only  freed  the  child's  body 
from  the  obstacles  which  were  preventing  his 
growth.  There  were  external  bands  that 
hindered  the  growth  and  the  entire  natural 
evolution  of  life.     Hygiene  broke  these  bands 


asunder  and  everybody  realized  that  a  libera- 
tion had  taken  place.  When  this  was  an  ac- 
complished fact  everyone  said :  "Children 
must  be  free/'  Now  the  direct  relation  be- 
tween "attained  conditions  of  physical  life" 
and  "acquired  freedom"  is  universally  felt. 

In  that  way  the  child  is  treated  like  a  little 
plant.  For  years  plants  in  an  orchard  or  a 
garden  were  well  kept;  they  had  gained  rights 
and  privileges  which  the  child  had  only  just 
now  attained — good  food,  oxygen,  a  suitable 
temperature,  and  minute  protection  from  the 
parasites  which  cause  plant  disease.  Today 
the  son  of  a  prince  can  have  as  good  care  as 
the  most  beautiful  rosebud  in  a  lovely  villa. 

The  old  saying,  "A  child  is  like  a  flower," 
is  what  we  hope  today  to  make  a  reality,  but 
it  is  as  yet  a  privilege  accorded  only  to  the 
more  fortunate  children.  But  let  us  arouse 
ourselves  from  so  great  a  mistake.  The  child 
is  a  man.  What  is  enough  for  a  plant  is  not 
enough  for  a  human  being.  We  must  always 
hold  before  us  the  picture  of  the  child  as  the 
future  man,  we  must  see  him  in  the  bustling 
humanity  which  seeks  with  such  heroic  efforts 
to  attain  the  goal  of  life. 

What  are  the  rights  of  children?  Let  us 
consider  them  for  a  moment  as  a  class  in 
society,   a  laboring  class,  for  they  do  indeed 


labor  to  produce  men.  They  are  the  future 
generation.  They  labor  and  endure  the  hard- 
ships of  the  physical  and  spiritual  growth. 
They  are  continuing  the  work  performed  for 
a  few  months  by  their  mothers,  and  to  them 
is  left  the  performing  of  the  more  arduous, 
more  complex,  and  more  difficult  task.  When 
they  are  born  they  have  naught  but  poten- 
tiality, yet  they  must  do  everything  in  a  world 
which,  even  on  the  word  of  an  adult,  is  full  of 
difficulties.  What  is  done  to  aid  these  weak 
pilgrims  in  an  unknown  world?  They  are 
born  weaker  and  more  helpless  than  an  ani- 
mal, and  they  must  in  a  few  years  become 
men ;  must  be  a  part  of  an  organized  and  com- 
plicated society,  built  on  the  secular  effort  of 
innumerable  generations.  At  an  age  in  which 
civilization — that  is  to  say  the  possibility  of 
living  well — is  based  on  rights  acquired  by 
force  and  incorporated  into  laws,  what  are  the 
rights  of  him  who  comes  among  us  without 
strength  and  without  thought? 

Let  us  see  how  the  laws  of  society  receive 
a  child  into  the  world.  We  are  in  the  twen- 
tieth century,  yet  in  many  civilized  nations 
foundling  homes  and  the  practice  of  using  wet 
nurses  are  still  institutions. 

What  is  this  foundling  home?  It  is  a  prison 
in   a   dark   dungeon,   where   all   too   often   the 


prisoner  finds  death,  as  was  the  case  in  those 
mediaeval  dungeons  where  the  victim,  judged 
in  secret,  disappeared  unknown  to  anyone.  He 
will  never  see  his  own  people,  his  family  name 
is  blotted  out  of  existence,  his  goods  are  con- 
fiscated. Any  malefactor  whosoever  has 
greater  rights  than  he,  and  yet  no  one  could 
better  prove  his  innocence. 

The  maternal  duty  of  nursing  one's  children 
proclaimed  by  hygiene  is  founded  on  the 
physiological  fact  that  the  mother's  milk  is 
more  nourishing  than  is  any  other  milk.  It 
is  true  there  is  the  law  of  property  rights 
which  is  final.  One  need  only  steal  a  roll, 
starving  tho  he  be,  to  become  a  thief,  to  be 
punished  by  law  and  put  outside  the  pale  of 
society.  But  as  regards  babies,  what  more 
sacred  right  is  there  than  that  the  baby  shall 
have  its  mother's  milk?  There  is  no  doubt  as 
to  the  legality  of  his  right;  his  only  capital, 
the  milk,  came  into  the  world  with  him  and 
for  him.  All  his  wealth  is  there;  his  power 
of  life,  of  growth,  of  gaining  strength  depends 
on  that  nourishment.  If  ever  the  defrauded 
child  were  to  be  weak  and  have  rickets,  what 
will  become  of  him,  condemned  as  he  is  by 
poverty  to  a  hard  occupation?  If  some  day 
the  child,  having  attained  to  manhood,  should 
present    his    case    before    society's    court    of 


justice,  what  a  just  cause  he  would  have  for 
damages  because  of  his  inabiUty  to  work  and 
his  permanent  injuries ! 

What  distinguishes  us  from  cannibals  and 
pirates  is  the  fact  that  the  rights  of  the  adults 
are  recognized.  Not  so  the  child's  rights. 
What  cowardliness  to  recognize  the  adult's 
rights  and  not  those  of  the  child!  Shall  we 
give  justice  only  to  those  who  can  defend  and 
protect  themselves  and  in  all  else  remain  bar- 
barians? The  peoples  of  today  may  have  at- 
tained a  greater  or  less  degree  of  evolution 
from  the  standpoint  of  hygiene,  but  they  all 
belong  to  the  same  civilization,  i.e.,  the  rights 
of  the  strong. 

When  we  intend  to  consider  seriously  the 
problem  of  the  child's  moral  education,  we 
should  glance  around  and  at  least  be  cog- 
nizant of  the  world  we  have  prepared  for  him. 
Do  we  desire  that,  like  ourselves,  he  may  un- 
heedingly  trample  on  the  weak?  That  he  may 
hold  ideas  of  justice  which  halt  before  one 
who  cannot  protest?  Do  we  wish  to  make  of 
him  a  half-civilized  man,  when  he  meets  his 
equals,  and  a  half-beast  when  he  comes  in 
contact  with  the  hosts  of  oppressed  and  inno- 
cent? If  we  keep  in  our  conscience  facts  of 
such  serious  injustice,  not  to  call  them  crimes. 


without  ever  being  aware  of  them,  what  may 
not  be  the  lesser  evils  which  will  descend  on 
the  child? 

How  We  Receive  the   Children  Who   Come 
Into  the  World 

Until  recently  nothing  was  ready  to  receive 
this  wonderful  guest.  It  is  only  recently  that 
little  beds  for  children  have  been  manufac- 
tured. There  used  to  be  no  washstands,  no 
armchairs,  no  little  tables,  no  brushes.  From 
among  so  many  houses,  not  one  house  for 
them;  only  very  rich  and  privileged  children 
have  their  own  room,  and  it  is  almost  a  place 
of  exile. 

Let  us  imagine  enduring  for  a  single  day 
the  torment  to  which  they  are  condemned. 

Supposing  that  we  should  find  ourselves 
among  a  giant  people,  whose  legs  were  ex- 
ceedingly long  in  comparison  with  ours,  whose 
bodies  were  enormous,  but  who  were  very 
quick  as  compared  with  us — an  exceedingly 
agile,  intelligent  people.  If  we  wish  to  climb 
their  stairs,  the  steps  are  high,  on  a  level  with 
our  knee,  and  yet  we  have  to  try  to  climb  up 
with  them.  If  we  wish  to  sit  down,  the  chair 
reaches   almost   to   our   shoulders.      Climbing 


up  with  difficulty,  we  finally  succeed  in  perch- 
ing ourselves  on  it.  We  would  like  to  brush 
our  dress,  but  the  big  brushes  are  so  heavy 
that  our  hand  cannot  even  grasp,  much  less 
hold,  them.  For  brushing  our  nails  we  are 
given  a  clothes  brush.  We  could  easily  take 
a  bath  in  the  wash  basin,  but  our  arms  would 
not  be  strong  enough  to  lift  it.  If  we  knew 
that  these  giants  were  expecting  us  to  do  so, 
we  would  say :  "They  have  made  no  prepara- 
tion to  receive  us,  to  make  our  visit  comfort- 
able." The  child  finds  all  that  he  could  wish 
for  in  the  form  of  toys  or  dolls.  The  rich, 
multiform,  attractive  environment  was  not 
made  for  him,  whereas  dolls  have  houses,  with 
sitting-rooms,  kitchens,  and  closets — every- 
thing which  the  adult  possesses  is  reproduced 
in  miniature  for  the  doll.  The  child,  however, 
cannot  actually  live  with  all  these  things — he 
can  only  play  with  them.  The  world  has  been 
given  to  him  as  a  joke,  because  as  yet  no  one 
has  admitted  that  he  is  a  living  man.  He 
finds  that  society  has  prepared  an  ironical  re- 
ception for  him. 

The  child  really  tries  to  live  with  all  the 
things  that  surround  him.  He  would  really 
like  to  use  a  washstand  by  himself,  to  dress 
himself,  actually  to  comb  the  hair  on  a  living 
head,      really     to     sweep      the     floors ;      he. 


too,  would  like  to  possess  chairs,  tables,  arm- 
chairs, clothes  hooks  and  closets.  What 
he  wants  is  really  to  work,  to  attain  an 
intelligent  end,  to  have  the  enjoyment  of  his 
own  life.  Besides,  he  must  not  only  act  like 
a  man,  but  he  must  actually  form  the  man; 
this  is  the  predominating  tendency  of  his  na- 
ture, his  mission.  The  smallest  thing  suffices 
to  make  him  happy — to  hang  his  clothes  on  a 
hook  placed  low  on  the  wall  within  his  reach, 
to  open  a  light  door  whose  knob  is  in  propor- 
tion to  his  hand,  silently  and  lightly  to  move 
a  chair  whose  weight  is  adapted  to  the 
strength  of  his  arms.  It  is  a  very  simple  mat- 
ter to  offer  him  an  environment  where  every- 
thing is  built  in  proportion  to  his  size,  and 
to  let  him  live  there.  Then  there  develops 
in  him  that  active  life  which  has  caused  so 
much  wonder,  because  we  see  in  him  the  reve- 
lation of  a  spiritual  life.  In  that  harmonious 
environment  we  have  seen  the  child  concen- 
trated on  intellectual  work,  as  a  seed  which 
has  taken  root  in  the  right  ground,  and  from 
that  develop  and  grow  by  one  means  only — 
prolonged  constancy  in  each  exercise. 

When  the  little  ones  are  seen  acting  in  this 
way,  intent  upon  their  work,  slow  in  carrying 
it  out  because  of  the  immaturity  of  their  con- 
stitutions,  as   they  are  slow  in  walking,  be- 


cause  their  legs  are  still  short,  one  has  the  in- 
tuitive feeling  that  they  are  perfecting  their 
lives,  as  a  chrysalis  slowly  perfects  the  butter- 
fly within  its  cocoon.     To  hinder  their  occu- 
pations would  be  to  commit  violence  against 
their  life.     On  the  contrary,  what  is  generally  i, 
done   to   children?     We    all    interrupt    them  I 
without    the    slightest    regard,    without    the  / 
slightest    respect,    with    the    manners    which    j 
were  used  by  masters  toward  slaves  who  had    ' 
no  human  rights.     To  have  the  same  regard 
for  a  child  as  for  an  adult  would  seem  ridic- 
ulous  to  many  people,    and    yet    with    what 
severity  we  say  to  children  ,"Do  not  interrupt 
us."     If  the  little  one  is  doing  something,  for 
example   eating   by   himself,   an   adult   comes 
along  and  feeds  him;  if  he  is  trying  to  put  on 
his   apron,   the   adult   runs   to   dress   him ;   all 
brutally  take  his  place,  without  the  slightest 
respect.     And  yet  we  are  keenly  aware  of  the 
proprietorship  of  our  work  and  whoever  tries 
to  take  our  place  offends  us. 

What  would  happen  to  us  were  we  to  become 
slaves  to  a  people  incapable  of  comprehending 
the  sensitiveness  of  our  feelings — a  giant 
people,  stronger  than  ourselves?  While  we 
are  quietly  eating  our  soup,  relishing  it,  at 
our  pleasure  (and  we  know  what  an  enjoy- 
ment is  found  in  this  freedom),  a  giant  comes 


along  and  grabs  the  spoon  from  our  hand  and 
makes  us  swallow  so  fast  that  we  almost 
choke.  Our  protest,  "For  goodness  sake, 
wait,"  would  be  accompanied  by  a  contraction 
of  the  heart  and  our  digestion  would  be  en- 
dangered. If  another  time,  while  thinking  of 
something  pleasant,  we  were  slowly  putting 
on  our  coat  with  that  satisfaction  and  that 
liberty  which  we  have  in  our  own  home,  and 
a  giant  should  light  upon  us,  and  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  having  dressed  us,  should 
carry  us  bodily  out  of  the  door,  we  would  feel 
our  dignity  so  belittled  that  the  whole  pleas- 
ure of  the  walk  would  be  lost.  Our  nourish- 
ment does  not  come  simply  and  purely  from 
the  soup  swallowed,  and  the  well-being  does 
not  come  simply  and  purely  from  the  walk, 
but  also  from  the  freedom  which  accompanies 
all  these  things.  We  would  feel,  rebellious 
and  offended,  not  certainly  because  of  hatred 
of  these  giants,  but  only  because  of  the  love 
for  an  inner  tendency  to  let  our  life  function 
freely.  There  is  something  within  us  that 
man  does  not  know,  which,  one  might  say, 
with  an  expression  easily  understood,  God 
alone  knows,  and  He  is  imperceptibly  mani- 
festing it  to  us  that  we  fulfil  it.  It  is  this  love 
which  more  deeply  nourishes  and  gives  the 
feeling  of  well-being  to  our  life,  even  in  its 


most  minute  acts.  Because  of  this  it  is  said 
that  ''Man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone."  How 
much  more  true  is  this  in  the  case  of  the  child, 
where  creation  is  at  work? 

Children  must  defend  their  little  acquisi- 
tions in  the  environment  by  struggles  and  re- 
bellion. When  they  want  to  exercise  the 
senses,  for  instance  that  of  touch,  everyone 
reprimands  them,  saying,  "Don't  touch!''  If 
they  try  to  take  some  object  from  the  kitchen, 
some  leftovers  to  make  a  pie  within  a  little 
plate,  they  are  chased  away,  they  are  merci- 
lessly led  back  to  their  toys.  How  many  times 
one  of  those  wonderful  moments,  in  which 
their  attention  is  fixed,  and  that  process  of 
organization  which  must  develop  them  is 
starting  within  them,  has  been  brusquely  in- 
terrupted, as  the  spontaneous  efforts  of  the 
children  are  seeking  blindly  in  the  environ- 
ment for  those  things  with  which  to  nourish 
their  intellect.  Have  we  not  all  perhaps  had 
the  feeling  that  something  in  our  life  has  been 
crushed  forever? 

Let  us  picture  adults  who  were  not  settled 
in  life,  as  are  most  men,  but  were  in  a  state 
of  inner  autocreation  like  men  of  genius.  Sup- 
pose a  writer  to  be  under  poetical  inspiration, 
and  about  to  give  to  humanity  a  helpful  and 
inspiring  message.     Or  let  us  take  the  mathe- 


matician  who  sights  the  solution  of  a  great 
problem  whence  would  spring  new  principles 
useful  to  humanity.  Or  take  an  artist  whose 
mind  is  conceiving  the  ideal  image  which 
must  be  put  on  the  canvas  immediately  so  that 
a  masterpiece  may  not  be  lost.  Imagine  such 
men  at  such  psychological  moments.  Suppose 
there  came  into  their  presence  a  cruel  person 
calling  aloud  to  them  to  follow,  and  this  per- 
son should  take  them  by  the  hand  and  then 
push  them  out.  To  what  purpose?  To  play 
a  game  of  chess.  "Oh,"  they  would  say,  "you 
could  not  have  done  anything  worse  to  us. 
Our  inspiration  is  lost,  humanity  will  be  de- 
prived of  a  poem,  a  masterpiece,  a  useful  dis- 
covery, becatise  of  this  foolishness.'' 

But  the  child  loses  not  only  a  product,  but 
himself  as  well,  for  the  masterpiece  which  he 
is  creating  in  his  immortal  self  is  the  new  man. 
And  it  is  not  only  the  soul  which  suffers,  but 
the  body  suffers  too.  For  this  is  what  char- 
acterizes man — the  influence  that  the  spirit 
has  on  his  entire  physical  existence. 

We  deceive  ourselves  in  thinking  that  we 
give  all  to  the  child  when  we  give  him  air 
and.  food.  Indeed,  we  do  not  give  even  this ; 
food  and  air  are  not  enough  for  man's  body; 
all  the  physiological  functions  depend  on  the 


well-being,  and  that  is  the  only  key  to  the 
whole  of  life.  So,  also,  the  child's  body  lives 
by  the  freedom  of  the  soul. 

A  new  hour  is  about  to  strike  for  the  rela- 
tions between  mother  and  child.  The  modern 
mother  who  is  prepared  to  care  perfectly  for 
the  physical  life,  and  who  for  such  a  mission 
has  only  yesterday  opened  her  mind  to  new 
studies  and  new  ideas  and  has  accepted  new 
responsibilities,  is  about  to  take  a  step  for- 
ward. Like  care,  dictated  by  science,  will  be 
demanded  of  her  tomorrow, for  the  intellectual 
hygiene  of  the  child  and  for  the  health  of  his 
inner  life. 

No  longer  will  medicine  alone  furnish  her 
the  necessary  teachings,  but  also  a  renewed 
pedagogy  based  on  the  positive  facts  of 
science.  The  girls  who  yesterday,  in  order  to 
be  better  mothers,  took  hospital  training,  will 
tomorrow  go  to  children's  schools  to  learn  the 
art  of  protecting  the  new  lives  which  are 
about  to  be  entrusted  to  them  by  nature. 
Then  the  maternal  mission  will  become  com- 
plete and  woman  will  turn  her  steps  toward 
motherhood  with  open  eyes  and  with  the  dig- 
nity of  one  who  is  no  longer  only  a  creator 
but  also  a  protector  of  posterity,  one  who 
guards  and  saves  the  body  and  mind  of  the 
new  humanity. 


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